Corporate | 12 April 2011 07:00
ARAGON AG / Key word(s): Miscellaneous 12.04.2011 / 07:00 - Aragon AG acquires remaining shares in FiNUM.FINANZHAUS - Realignment of FiNUM.FINANZHAUS succeeds faster than expected - Further expansion of premium advisory services planned Aragon AG, a leading financial services provider in Germany and Austria, has acquired the remaining 25.1 percent of the shares in FINUM.FINANZHAUS GmbH from the existing co-shareholder Securess Finanzhaus AG and now owns all of the shares in the company. 'Thanks to the efforts made by our advisers, the realignment of Finum has also succeeded fasted than expected. We have taken our first successful steps in the German mass affluent market - the market for sophisticated private customers', explained Wulf Schütz, Member of the Management Board of Aragon AG. 'We have acquired the remaining shares in Finum so that we can implement our planned growth strategy in the premium segment at great speed. This will enable us to press ahead with our organic growth by acquiring further experienced advisers, as well as with our external growth by making potential acquisitions, without having to agree our plans with other shareholders.' Notwithstanding its realignment, FiNUM.FINANZHAUS already generated sales of around Euro 3 million in just three and a half months from September to December 2010 in its short financial year. The company also managed to post clearly positive earnings after taxes following the completion of its realignment in December 2010. The number of advisors was increased by around 10% during this time, while customer totals rose over the same period from around 27,000 to more than 29,000. Of product turnover, around half is attributable to cash investment products (investment funds, certificates and closed funds) and half to the insurance business. Aragon expects Finum to contribute more than Euro 10 million to consolidated sales in 2011 About Aragon AG Aragon AG is a broadly diversified financial services group comprising the business units Broker Pools and Financial Consulting as well as the business unit Holding, which apart from its share in the Institutional Sales unit Fundmatrix AG and the Aragon IT Service GmbH also comprises a minority shares in the biw Bank für Investments und Wertpapiere AG. In the operative business units, Aragon AG is actively engaged in the market with several independent subsidiaries. The aim is to integrate a variety of sales models under one roof without any of the sales teams losing their own identity. The effect is a broad diversification across various asset classes and sales types, with a consequently high stability in corporate earnings. For further information on the company and its subsidiaries, please visit www.aragon.ag. About FiNUM.FINANZHAUS GmbH FiNUM.FINANZHAUS is a financial services provider that specialises in advising sophisticated private customers. More than 100 experienced advisors currently support more than 29,000 customers by offering a comprehensive advisory approach with independent products across all asset classes. Alongside its headquarters in Cologne, Finum is represented by around 35 Finum Financial Centres across Germany. Further information about the company can be found at www.finumfinanzhaus.de Contact: Aragon Aktiengesellschaft Ralf Funke Investor Relations Tel.: +49(0)611 890 575-0 Fax: +49(0)611 890 575-99 E-Mail: ir@aragon.ag End of Corporate News --------------------------------------------------------------------- 12.04.2011 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. DGAP's Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de --------------------------------------------------------------------- 119390 12.04.2011